The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina continues to promote the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Elder Justice Initiative (EJI) throughout the Wake County area. On Aug. 29, 2019, the Eastern District partnered with Meals on Wheels in Wake County to conduct Phase III of its outreach to approximately 1,300 seniors in the area to raise awareness about DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative and provide facts about financial scams and how seniors can protect themselves from falling victim.
Below are some facts shared with the community about financial scams:
* Fraud Victimization
** Over 13% of older Americans become victims of financial fraud every year
** Of those who are subject to a fraud attempt, 25% will become a fraud victim
** Oder adults lose more than $3 billion annually to financial scams
* Examples of fraud & scams
** Overcharging for products or services
** Lottery and sweepstakes fraud
** Pretend romantic attention towards an older adult
** Scammers posing as government employees telling you to pay a fee
** Someone posing to be from the information technology field offers to fix a non-existent problem with your computer
* Fraud victims have been approached:
** While in the grocery store
** By knocking at the door
** Through the phone
** Through the internet
** Through the mail
* It’s Your Right
** If someone approaches you in any of these ways, you do not have to respond
** It’s ok to hang up the phone
** It’s ok to not answer the door
** It’s ok to not open an email or a piece of mail
** It’s ok to say, “No, thank you" to someone who approaches you
The mission of the Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate DOJ’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and scams that target our nation’s seniors by promoting justice for older adults; helping older victims and their families; enhancing state and local efforts through training and resources; and supporting research to improve elder abuse policy and practice.
For more information about DOJ’s efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, please visit the Elder Justice Website at https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP. You can also contact the Victim Connect Hotline between 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday, at: 1- 855-4VICTIM (1-855-4842846), or contact the Elder Justice Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina at (919) 856-4530.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
